The wait is finally over for arguably the most eagerly anticipated Apple release of all-time with the handset finally hitting high-street shelves on Friday.

Thousands of fans have been queuing for the latest Apple gadget around the globe, with the line of people outside the firm’s flagship store in Covent Garden growing steadily over the past few days.

A customer celebrates being the first to get his hands on the iPhone 5 (Picture: Reuters)

Tech fans who have waited to become the first to get their hands on the new iPhone were cheered as they entered the central London store which flung open its doors at 8am.

Apple fans queue in Munich before the release of the iPhone 5 (Picture: Reuters)

IT businessman Ryan Williams was one of the first people in the queue having camped outside the store all week to raise money for charity.

‘I didn’t expect that kind of entrance to be honest with you, I thought I was just queueing for a phone but it was absolutely mad,’ he said.

‘It was a crazy thing to queue here for a week but it was really good fun, I would definitely do it again, we’ve raised so much money for Cancer Research UK as well which is absolutely fantastic.’

Critics are impressed with Apple’s iPhone 5 (Picture: Reuters)

He added: ‘I was just trying to utilise the fact that there’s so much publicity around iPhone queueing, so if we could build on that and raise money for charity at the same time, we were doing it for a good cause.’

The new smartphone has been among the top trending topics on Twitter on release day, with iPhone 5 fever hitting fever pitch on the micro-blogging site.

One user commented: ‘The queue for the iPhone 5 at Covent Garden is longer than I’ve seen it for any other launch.’

Fans of Apple wait for the sales launch of the iPhone 5 in Hamburg, Germany (Picture: EPA)

While another user, Jake Morgan, added: ‘I’m next in queue to buy the iPhone 5. Buzzzzzing!’

‘Oh my word, the queue for the iPhone 5 goes from Regent Street, around Hanover Square a dozen times then up Bond Street. It. Is. A . Phone,’ added another.

Apple has said the demand for the new product has outstripped supply with pre-orders topping 2million in 24 hours.

iPhone 5 fans camp outside the Apple store in New York (Picture: Splash)

Company chief executive Phil Schiller described the record breaking figures as phenomenal.

‘iPhone 5 pre-orders have shattered the previous record held by iPhone 4S and the customer response to iPhone 5 has been phenomenal,’ he said.

The iPhone5 is bigger, thinner and lighter than previous models and browsing is faster thanks to a new microchip.